This invention relates to a connector used as an electric or optical fiber connector adapted to be prevented from disconnection due to mechanical vibration and change in temperature or pressure, and more particularly to an improved connector which is easily detachable by a simple operation and inexpensive to manufacture with fewer parts and which is high in reliability.
It is required to have high reliability for connectors used under greatly variable conditions and subjected to mechanical vibration as when used in vehicles, aircraft, robots and the like.
With these connectors, in general, a plug is inserted into a receptacle and clamped to the receptacle by set screws with the aid of a coupling rotatable about an axis of the connector. However, no matter how the clamping by set screws is strongly effected, there is a tendency for the clamping to be loosened when subjected to vibration, resulting finally in contact failure of the connector.
Connectors intended to eliminate such disadvantages of the prior art have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publications Nos. 8,033/84 and 8,034/84 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 13,679/81. For example, the connector disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8,033/84 includes receptacle means having a receptacle shell, a plug shell having connecting nuts threadedly engaging the plug shell, plug means having a connecting ring housing keyed to the connecting nuts, electric contact elements adapted to do electric connection and disconnection in the receptacle and plug shells according to instruction, and fixing means on the connecting ring housing and the receptacle shell for detachably holding the electric contact elements in engaged positions. The connector further comprises display means for visually indicating the completely engaged and fixed positional relation between the receptacle means and the plug means. The display means comprises an inner annular groove formed in the connecting ring housing, a circular arc detent member having an elasticity located in the inner annular groove and means for governing relative rotating movement between the plug shell and the detent member having ends facing radially outwardly. The inner annular groove of the connecting ring housing includes sets of recesses spaced and located radially outwardly for selectively receiving the ends of the detent member. With this arrangement, when the housing is rotated into the completely engaged and fixed position, the ends of the detent member are forced out of a first set of the recesses into a second set of the recesses to generate a sound.
With this connector of the prior art, the characterizing feature lies in that when the housing is forced to be rotated, the ends of the circular arc detent member are pushed out of the first set of the recesses and into the second set of the recesses to generate the sound, thereby causing the engagement of the receptacle and plug means to completely fix the housing.
In this prior art, however, there is a problem in a great number of the parts for constituting the connector as can be seen from the claim, the detailed explanation and drawings of the Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8,033/84.
Moreover, these many parts include those not suitable for being worked using molds as in pressforming, casting, molding and the like. This fact makes the connector expensive and limits applications of the connector.
For example, the plug shell and connecting nuts have screw threads threadedly engaged with each other, which are unable to be formed by press-forming and other working using molds. Moreover, the recesses for receiving the ends of the circular arc detent member facing radially outwardly are not formed by pressforming or other working using molds. The connector of the prior art, therefore, involves a great problem in working the parts.